I love stats, charts, graphs, etc. So, when I stumbled across a treasure trove of facts and figures regarding severe weather for our area, I just had to share. We are in the middle of a pretty dull weather pattern so it helps pass the time 🙂

1) Tornado Warnings

Although we have had a couple of tornadoes in our viewing area over the last 2 years, they were NOT accompanied by Tornado Warnings (See: This Post and This One Too)

These maps show the year in which the last Tornado Warnings were issued for each county. The first is for the counties the Cleveland NWS covers and the second is for the Pittsburgh NWS area.

Interesting that there has not been a Tornado Warning issued for Mahoning County since 2012.

2) Tornado Warnings By Month

No big surprises here; tornadoes are most likely in the Spring and Summer.

Notice the small “secondary” peak that can occur in the fall, often in November. Strong cold fronts can run into the fading warmth of Autumn and lead to a spike in severe weather during some Novembers.

3) Tornado Warning By Time of Day

Again no big surprises here, severe weather and tornadoes are most likely in the late afternoon and early evening,

4) Severe Weather By Year

Some years are busier for severe weather than others. These graphs show the frequency of severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings over the last 13 years.

5) Severe Weather This Year

These maps show the number of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued per county so far in 2015. In our viewing area, the Cleveland NWS covers Mahoning and Trumbull counties. The Pittsburgh NWS covers Columbiana, Lawrence and Mercer counties. So far this year, the Pittsburgh NWS has issued many more Severe Thunderstorm Warnings than Cleveland.

Why is this? The counties Pittsburgh covers have probably had more severe weather, yes….but it is also possible that forecasters at that office are more prone to pull the trigger on warnings than those in Cleveland.